


Untitled

by ravenclawseeker6



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Assault, Attempted robbery, Eventual Relationships, F/M, Gangs, Gen, Homelessness, Hurt Sherlock, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Mistaken Identity? Kind of?, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2016-09-16
Packaged: 2018-07-26 05:13:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7561750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenclawseeker6/pseuds/ravenclawseeker6
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katie certainly hadn't planned on stumbling across a guy being robbed. She definitely didn't plan on helping the guy. And she absolutely, positively did not plan on falling for the guy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are love! Let me know what you think!

Ugh, not again.  
Katie was wandering through the park, enjoying the night air. It was unseasonably warm for September, and the first night without rain in over a week. The object of her disgust was the group of people ahead of her.  
The Vipers, as they liked to call themselves, was a small group of thugs. Harmless, really, unless you didn't give them what they wanted. Clearly the man they had cornered against the fountain wasn't cooperating.  
Katie did a quick head count. Eight against one? That hardly seemed fair. The Vipers all wore black shirts with a green snake baring its fangs across the front. Katie thought it was a bit cliché.  
She crept closer, angling herself to be behind the local gang, and got her first good look at the latest victim. He was tall, with curly hair that appeared black in the lamplight. He was impossibly thin, but clearly wasn't homeless, if his Belstaff coat was anything to go by.  
She was finally close enough to hear their conversation.  
"-is your wallet and watch." The apparent leader of the group said calmly. "That's it. Then you can just walk away like this never happened. Got it?"  
"I hardly see why I should give you anything," the man said smoothly. "Perhaps if you were more intimidating, I might oblige. As it is, you are nothing more than a group of boys trying to be men. Hardly scary, I assure you." He smirked, laughing at his own joke.  
The Vipers didn't find this funny. "Look, buddy," Macho, as Katie had named the leader, growled. "Just give us the stuff, and we might let you walk away from this."  
"Ah, you plan to resort to violence," Curly said in a bored voice. Katie didn't see how he could be bored at this moment! "I suppose it wouldn't help if I said I worked for the Yard?"  
The men laughed, and one called "Yeah, and I'm the Queens maid!"  
"Doubtful. Judging by the carefully kept distance between you and the man next to you, you are in a sexual relationship, but don't want him" he pointed at another man, "knowing . He is obviously homophobic."  
Katie hit her head against the tree behind her. For all his smart talk, Curly truly was an idiot.  
Before the outed men could protest, Macho took a menacing step closer. He ran a hand through his short blonde hair, and sighed. "We gave you every opportunity. Looks like we have no other-"  
"Jeremy!" Katie called, remembering a trick from her favorite Disney movie. She truly didn't know why she was doing this. She didn't even know the guy! "She plastered a smile on her face, and ran up to Curly. "Sorry I'm late." Katie grabbed the mans sweaty hand, and gave him a look, clearly telling him to play along. His face quickly went from slightly confused to a small smile.  
"It's fine Jessica," He replied. "I believe I told you to meet me at the wrong fountain."  
Satisfied that he had caught on, she turned to The Vipers. As she had hoped, they now looked confused and torn. It seemed violence against girls wasn't their thing. Her smile faltered as she met the cold blue eyes of Macho. He looked furious.  
"Friends of yours?" she asked sweetly.  
"Just having a friendly chat," Macho said with a grin. "Joshua's the name."  
Katie looked distrustfully at the offered hand. She saw Curly give a slight shake of his head, and she kept her own hand down. Joshua suddenly lunged forward, and yanked her away from Curly. Katie gave a small squeak of surprise. Joshua spun her around, so that her back was against his chest. One arm wrapped itself tightly around her chest, the other held both of her small wrists.  
"Josh-"  
"Shut up, Nathan!" Joshua snarled. "Watch. Wallet. Now."  
Curly stood still, hands in his pockets. "Hostages? Really? That is so boring," he said with a sigh.  
"Not to the hostage!" Katie said, squirming. She gasped when Joshua tightened his grip around her chest. It made it slightly harder to breathe, and was rather painful.  
"Josh, I really don't like this," another lackey said nervously.  
"I highly suggest you let her go," Curly said slowly, his eyes bright. He looked almost... excited. "My watch wont fetch much money, and my wallet has even less."  
"Nathan. Kyle. Curtis. Go home."  
"But-"  
"Go!" Joshua snapped. The three boys who had seemed the most unhappy with the situation grumbled as the followed their orders. The remaining four followers stood quietly, waiting.  
'You try to help a guy,' Katie thought to herself. She looked at Curly and raised an eyebrow.   
"Come on. Just pass it over, and little Jessica can safely go home with you."  
Curly scoffed. "As apposed to going with one of you? Please. All but one of you still lives with your mother. Your abusive fathers, which I am assuming lead to this little "gang" in the first place, may approve. However, you clearly won't get that far." His eyes met Katie's, and she instantly understood.   
She growled as she slammed the heel of her boot on top of her captors foot. At the same time, Curly jumped forward, aiming for another mans face.  
Joshua cursed loudly, and his grip loosened just enough to slip out of his hold. She ducked a swing aimed at her head, and a quick glance at Curly confirmed that he was holding his own. Was he actually smiling?  
Katie now had two men advancing on her: Joshua and a smaller man with multiple piercings. She lunged forward, grabbed the boys lip piercing, and yanked. The ring was still in her hand, and he was clutching his now bleeding face. Katie saw Joshua trying to come up behind her, and again dodged a blow. She laughed when he hit his own man instead. One down, four to go! She changed that to three when she saw Curly send a man flying with a kick to the chest. She disabled another man by running up to him, jamming her shoulder in his armpit, grabbing his arm, and dropping. She twisted as she went, and the man howled as his arm popped out of socket. She silenced him with a swift kick to the face.  
Duck, swing, kick, dodge. It all came without thought.   
Two left.  
Their odds quickly changed, however, when Katie saw a glint of metal in Joshua's hand. The blade was long, and looked like it could do some serious damage. The other man grabbed a chunk of brick from the crumbling fountain and advanced on Curly.  
"Duck!" Katie screamed. The brick aiming to crush his skull almost missed. It hit just above his temple, and he dropped to the ground.  
Screaming, Katie kicked the man between the legs, and used the fallen brick bring him down. She placed herself between Curly and Joshua. "Back off," she gasped, lungs burning. "I don't want to have to hurt you."  
Joshua laughed, and lunged forward.  
Katie sidestepped, then hissed through her teeth at the burning pain on the back of her left arm. Her right hand came up to grasp it, and she felt a warm wetness.  
Joshua started to come at her again, but was brought up short by the sound of sirens in the distance. "Did you really think I would jump into this without calling for backup?" She asked between pants. "Better roundup your buddies and scram."  
Joshua hesitated, then took off. The sound of the sirens seemed to rouse the rest of the Vipers, at least enough to help each other hobble off. The one she had taken out with his own brick was thrown over another's shoulder and hauled off.  
Katie staggered over to Curly, and dropped to her knees beside him. She brushed his soft hair out of the way, and saw a decent sized bump near his temple that was slowly oozing blood from a small cut. She shook his shoulder gently, but received no response. She listened to the siren coming closer and closer, then pass them by. Claiming she had called the police had been her best idea of the night.  
Now to actually call someone.  
"Hey, Curly? I'm just getting your phone, okay?" She took his continued silence as consent, and gently rolled him onto his back. She waited a moment, and when he did nothing, reached into his pocket.  
She found a wallet, what appeared to be a bag of dirt, and a bird claw of some kind before finally finding his phone. She put the confusing array of objects back in his pocket.  
'Alright,' Katie thought. 'Who would I want called?' She scrolled through his contacts until she came across one that looked promising.  
"Whatever it is, it can wait until morning," a slightly groggy voice answered. "Goodnight."  
"Wait! Katie said hurriedly. "This is important!"  
A pause. "Who is this?" The voice was clipped now, all trace of fatigue gone. "Where is my brother?"  
"I'm Katie, and your brother is, well," she threw a quick look at Curly and saw he still hadn't moved. The steady rise and fall of his chest was reassuring, however. "He can't talk right now. He's sort of out for the count."  
"What have you done to him?" The voice was calm, but she could hear the cold fury underneath. "Where is he? What do you want?"  
"I didn't hurt him," Katie replied hotly. "He's the one who decided to take on eight giant thugs!"   
The line was silent for a few moments.  
"I see. I will send a car to pick you up. How is he?"  
"I think he will be okay. He took a brick to the head, and he's been out for a while. Maybe ten minutes?" Her arm ached fiercely now, and she could still feel blood running down her arm. Surely it wasn't that bad?  
"Were you injured?"  
"Not- Not too bad." She said hesitantly. Now that the adrenaline had left her system, she felt oddly tired.  
"How badly?"  
"I don' know." She frowned at her slurred speech. "I can't see it."  
"I have traced Sherlock's phone to the park. One of my associates is on her way."  
"Who's Sh'lock?" Katie was fighting the approaching darkness, but felt herself losing.  
"My idiot brother," the man said in a slightly affectionate tone.  
Katie giggled.  
"What?"  
"Tha's what you're saved under in 'is phone." She said with a sleepy grin. Whatever comment he made was lost to her. The phone slipped from her fingers, and she slumped forward.  
Her last thought was that Curly's stomach made a nice pillow.


	2. Chapter Two

Katie awoke with jerk when a large hand grasped her injured arm. She swung, and felt satisfaction when she felt her fist connect with something warm. She opened her eyes to see a stout man with short blond hair and kind blue eyes stepping back hands raised.

“Sorry,” he said gently. “I was just checking your stitches.”

“Stitches?” Katie felt her arm, and found a large white bandage covering the upper half. She looked around in confusion. “This isn’t the hospital.”

The room she was in was cozy, if a bit cramped. Random items covered every available surface, from a Bunsen burner on the coffee table, to what looked like an actual human skull on the mantle. For some reason, a smiley face was spray painted on one of the walls. The couch she was currently laying on was comfortable, and a heavy blue blanket covered her legs.

“No, this is my flat. Dr. John Watson, at your service,” he said with a slight bow.

“Katie,” she said, smiling. A though occurred to her. “Where’s Curly?”

"Curly?” John chuckled. “I’ll have to remember that. Sherlock is fine. He has a few bruises and a minor concussion. He woke up in the car Mycroft sent just before you two arrived. Swore he had been kidnapped, and demanded to know what their ransom was!”

“Well of course,” Katie said with a straight face. “Anything less than ten grand would be an insult.”

“See? At least she understands.” A familiar voice called.

John closed his eyes, and groaned. “Go to sleep Sherlock!”

“Sleep is boring,” Sherlock said, strolling into the room. He was barefoot, and wearing a blue dressing gown. He didn’t look too bad, aside from a large bruise his hair didn’t quite cover.

“Good to see you are awake.” He directed at Katie.

“Same to you. How’s the head?”

“As John has said countless times, my head is too hard to take any true damage. A minor concussion is nothing I haven’t dealt with before. I suppose I have to thank you for assisting me.” He added grudgingly.

“I suppose. If there hadn’t been so many, you would have been fine. You fight very well.” Sherlock preened, reminding Katie of a cat.

“He said you fought well, too. Where did you learn?”

“It’s rather obvious, to be honest.” Sherlock said before Katie could answer. “Someone close to her, a friend or lover, taught her. She then altered it to fit her small form. The person who taught you was fairly tall, am I correct?”

Katie nodded, too shocked to speak.

“Of course I am. Your pixie hair cut was probably done because your hair was constantly used against you.” Sherlock continued to stare, bright blue eyes searching her own. “You attempted to dye your hair blonde at one point this year, but-“

“Sherlock!” John interrupted, laughing. “Give the girl a break!”

Katie eyed him nervously. “How did you know all that?”

“Don’t ask,” John said. “It would take too long, and us mere mortals wouldn’t understand.” He sat next to her, and reached for her arm. “May I?”

Katie gave her consent, and he gently removed the bandage. Katie tried to turn her arm around to see, and let out a huff when it refused to cooperate.

“It’s approximately three and a half inches,” Sherlock supplied helpfully. “”John gave it nine stitches. He will most likely give you some antibiotics to take home.

“Home. Right.” She stood, and waited for her stomach to stop rolling. “I should go.”

“Go?” John looked confused. “It’s only a few hours till sunrise, surely you can stay till then.”

“No, really. I need to leave, My… little brother is waiting for me. I’m sorry.” She didn’t like the way Sherlock was looking at her, as though he knew she was lying.

“At least let me pay for the cab.” Sherlock offered, reaching for his jacket. Katie liked them, she really did. It’s just, Sherlock. If he knew all that by just looking at her, what else did he know? There were things he couldn’t know, shouldn’t know.

Did he know? She had to leave.

At the mention of a cab, she paused. It was still late (early?) so a cab would be a good thing. Besides…

“Question.” Katie said, looking to John. “Where are we?”

John looked at her in concern. “We’re in our flat, remember? Maybe you-“

“Oh, do use that brain of yours,” Sherlock said with an exaggerated sigh. “She means the location of our flat. We are at 221 B Baker Street.”

Katie pulled up a mental map, and tracked the path she would need to get home. During the day, an hour long wouldn’t be so bad. At night? Terrible idea. She reached into her pocket, and as usual found little in the way of money.

“A cab would be wonderful.” She said thankfully.

“Would you like one of us to go with you?”

“No!” Katie said forcefully. “I mean, thank you, but that won’t be necessary.” John looked confused, while Sherlock looked thoughtful, like she was a puzzle. Katie found that she didn’t care for that look.

“Where do you live?” Sherlock asked suddenly.

“Near Oak Hill apartments,” she replied quickly. He quirked his eyebrow, but said nothing.

John nodded. “Then of course you’ll take the cab. Take these twice a day for three days. If you get dizzy or develop a fever, come back and see us.”

Katie took the cash from Sherlock and the pills from John, and left the flat.


	3. Chapter Three

Katie had the cab drop her off in front of one of the buildings that made up Oak Hill. She watched its departure under the guise of searching for her keys. Once it had turned the corner she set  a steady jog away from her “home”.

In actuality, she lived a couple blocks over. She ducked under old construction tape, and jimmied the back door of an old condemned building.

It was dull grey in color, and the roof had several small holes in it; the second floor was almost always flooded. The first floor originally had five rooms- a large sitting room, a kitchen/dining room, two bedrooms and a bathroom.

Now, with the addition of plywood and sheets, it had ten small rooms. Each room had a mattress on the floor and several boxes to hold personal items. As the building was condemned, the power and water had been shut off, so several candles were lit.

As Katie had been the first one  there, she got first pick. She had removed the old refrigerator and stove from the kitchen. She had room for her mattress, a small chair, and all of her possessions went in the cabinets along the wall.

She tiptoed through the small hallway, and pulled back the curtain for her room.

“Boo,” someone whispered.

Katie chuckled, and lit a candle next to her bed. On the bed lay Phillip.  A runt of a boy, his big doe eyes worked wonders on old ladies. Katie couldn’t count the number of times he had come home with a box of cookies, simply because they thought he was adorable.

“You need a haircut,” she remarked, ruffling his curly brown locks.

“Where did you go?” Phillip asked, smirking. “Visiting your boyfriend?”

Katie grabbed her pillow, and smacked Philip upside the head with it. He gave her an outraged look, then lunged for her other pillow.

Before the epic pillow fight could truly begin, there was a thud on one of the dividing walls. “Some of us need to sleep!” a grouchy voice called. “So shut up!”

“Sorry, Harold!” they chorused, giggling quietly.

“So, where did you really go?” Phillip asked eventually. “You said you were going to the park, but that was forever ago.”

“I got into a bit of a scuffle,” Katie said vaguely. “I had to get patched up.”

Phillip immediately straightened, in full business mode. “How? Where? Do I need to get my kit?”

Katie smiled, chuckling.  Since she had met him four years ago, the little guy had shown an interest in medicine. She had obtained a first aid kit, and taught him to do stitches. Hers were by no means pretty, but they were effective. After four years of practice, his were tight, straight, and reduced the chances of scarring to almost nonexistent.

The then six year old had captured her heart. She brought him home after seeing him trying to eat rotten vegetables from behind a restaurant. Katie couldn’t leave him there to starve, and from experience knew what spoiled food could do . He was a good kid, and welcome company.

She informed him that she was okay, and at his skeptical look pulled up her sleeve so he could see for himself. “It looks okay. Whoever did your stitches is really good!”

“Maybe if I see them again, I’ll introduce you. The one who fixed my arm was a real doctor, so maybe he could give you a few pointers.”

“Do you plan on seeing them again?” He smiled devilishly. “Got a thing for the doctor?”

“No to both,” Katie replied, laughing. “Would you stop trying to hook me up with everyone in London? It was probably a one-time thing.” She stretched, back cracking. “Now go to bed.  It’s way past our bedtime.” A quick hug later, and he was off to him own room.

Katie sighed, laying back on her mattress. The night hadn’t gone as planned. At all. She had meant to go to the fountain and collect the change people always threw in it. It was supposed to be Leroy tonight, but he was too drunk to function, as usual.

She had tried finding his secret liquor money, but hadn’t had much luck. She had found a little cash under his mattress, and used it to buy cheap pasta. It had been a decent dinner, and everyone had gotten full.

Of course, everyone played their part. Only a handful of times had she had to kick someone out of her little ‘hotel’. She didn’t want to say that some people deserved to be homeless, but some people deserve to be homeless.

The change would still be there tomorrow night, she decided. She would just go then.


End file.
